The pioneers were mistaken, exegetically, on almost every point of their
sanctuary doctrine, says Ford,132 but this in no way depreciates their sincere
endeavor to understand God's Word and His purpose for them, nor the fact
that God was leading them. Says Ford:

Elements of the pioneer two-apartment heavenly ministry represent swaddling
clothes around the baby of truth, swaddling now to be discarded,
for truth need no longer be presented in infantile form. . . . The
"swaddling clothes" referred to were absolutely essential in the nineteenth
century for the survival of the disappointed and bewildered remnant
who remained faithful to the Miller emphasis.133

[Even] Paul could use faulty arguments to arrive at right conclusions [1
Corinthians 9:6-10; Galatians 3:16].134

We have sketched the glowing features of the child of truth entrusted to
this div1nely raised movement. The fact that the child came in swaddling
clothes, which at this point of maturity are no longer need[ed],
is no occasion for discouragement or shame, any more than at Bethlehem
long ago.135

Ford considers himself a dedicated Seventh-day Adventist, and his personal
life style and conduct silently witness to that fact.136 "I write as a
Seventh-day Adventist," he says, "believing wholeheartedly that God was behind
the Advent movement of the nineteenth century and that he has committed
to "Seventh-day Adventists not only significant but vital truths."136 He
"publicly affirmed, at Glacier View, his belief in and support of the doctrines
of the church. He clearly indicated his support of the consensus
statement on the sanctuary and said that he would sign it if necessary.
Why was this not sufficient?" he asks.137 He assures his readers of his
personal belief that while the primary focus of Daniel 8:14 was not 1844 at
the time the angel spoke those words, it nevertheless does point to the eschatological
cleansing of the sanctuary.138 The Advent Movement is indeed
a fulfillment of Daniel 8:14,139 and God did raise up this church in that
year.140 In 1844 God raised up a people to preach the everlasting gospel."141

The fact that exegetically the date 1844 rests on several assumptions
impossible to demonstrate does not invalidate God's raising up of a
special people at that time to preach "the everlasting gospel" in the
sanctuary setting of salvation and judgment.142

In the providence of God Adventists were raised up in 1844.143

Also in His providence, God led the pioneers to adopt the year-day principle.144
They were not wrong when they asserted the eschatological significance
of Daniel 8:14; they were right in seeing the theme of judgment
there.145 Though there are "no texts teaching an investigative judgment as
we proclaim it," they do "teach a pre-Advent judgment whereby the destiny of
all men is settled while Christ is still our High Priest in the sanctuary
above."146

Ford's intense loyalty to the Bible as authority in matters of doctrine
and his firmness with respect to the import of the passages at issue, lead
him to declare that "no ecclesiastical creedal statement shall move me one
whit if obviously contrary to the plain testimony of the Word of God. We can
do no other."147 In support of this he quotes Ellen White: "The doctrine
that God has committed to the church, the right to control the conscience,
and to define and punish heresy, is one of the most deeply rooted of papal
errors.148 An excellent principle, it applies with equal force to Seventh-day Adventists.

Any administrative body that attempts to behave as though now is the
nineteenth century or the Middle Ages cannot hope to retain the confidence
of an educated laity. On the other hand, an open and honest
spirit will earn and claim that confidence.149